Alicia Kozakiewicz

Alicia Kozakiewicz
Kozakiewicz in 2015.
Born (1988-03-23) March 23, 1988 (age 36)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Other namesAlicia Kozak
EducationMA in Forensic Psychology
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Child welfare activist, motivational speaker and television personality
Parents
  • Charles Kozakiewicz (father)
  • Mary Kozakiewicz (mother)
Websitealiciakozak.com

Alicia Kozakiewicz (/əˈliːʃə ˌkoʊzəˈkɛvɪtʃ/ ə-LEE-shə KOH-zə-KEV-ich;[1]), also known as Alicia Kozak, is an American television personality, motivational speaker, and Internet safety and missing persons advocate. Kozakiewicz is the founder of the Alicia Project, an advocacy group designed to raise awareness about online predators, abduction, and child sexual exploitation. She is also the namesake of "Alicia's Law", which provides a dedicated revenue source for child rescue efforts.[2][3][4] Kozakiewicz has worked with television network Investigation Discovery (ID) to educate the public on, and effect change for, issues such as Internet safety, missing people, human trafficking, and child safety awareness education.[5]

At the age of 13, Kozakiewicz was the first known victim of an Internet luring and child abduction that received widespread media attention.[6] Her story and message have been chronicled on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil,[7] CNN, MSNBC, and the A&E Biography Channel. She has been the subject of an award-winning PBS Internet safety documentary, Alicia's Message: I'm Here to Save Your Life, as well as the Emmy award-winning Alicia's Story produced by Enough is Enough. Kozakiewicz has been featured in numerous national and international publications, such as People and Cosmopolitan.[6][8]

Kozakiewicz has addressed Congress on the issue of Internet safety for children and federal child rescue funding.[9]

  1. ^ Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul [@WisDOJ] (June 5, 2019). ".@itsaliciakozak, a survivor and national advocate for stopping Internet crimes against children, agrees that specialized cyberunits at DOJ requires additional funding to take on increased cyber tip workloads. 6/" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SJ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Gottula, Todd (5 March 2014). "Abducted teen featured speaker at UNK Criminal Justice Conference". University of Nebraska at Kearney. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  4. ^ Kozakiewicz, Alicia (15 May 2013). "I, too, am an abduction survivor". CNN. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Alicia Kozakiewicz - Innocence Lost". Investigation Discovery. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b Weisensee Egan, Nicole (16 April 2007). "Abducted, Enslaved—and Now Talking About It". People. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  7. ^ "From Tragedy To Triumph: The Alicia Project Interview". Good Day Sacramento. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  8. ^ Bethel, Betsy (14 October 2013). "Internet Safety Series to Air on PBS starting Tuesday". OV Parent. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  9. ^ Jaffe, Matthew (17 October 2007). "Emotional Testimony From Online Predator Victim". ABC News. Retrieved 18 March 2015.